Sablefin waste appeal denied by provincial
board

Gulf Islands Driftwood, Wednesday, November 24, 2004

By Gail Sjuberg

A ruling against the appeal of a temporary
waste management approval for a Walker Hook sablefish hatchery
has given the proponent cause to cheer while opponents return
to the drawing board. The Environmental Appeal Board (EAB)
dismissed all grounds for appeal made by three different groups
opposed to the 15-month approval issued by the Ministry of
Water, Land and Air Protection regional manager in September
of 2003. The board's 50-page summary of submissions and decisions
was released Thursday.

"This decision completely exonerates Sablefin Hatcheries
of malicious charges of pollution and desecration of a First
Nations burial site," said Sablefin Hatcheries Ltd. president
Gidon Minkoff in a statement issued Friday.

Donna Martin, speaking on behalf of Salt Spring Island Residents
for Responsible Land Use, one of the three appellants, described
the EAB decision as "extremely sad." "The Penelakut First
Nation were asking for respect for the graveyard of their
ancestors. The residents were asking for respect of a ecologically
sensitive site and to have it treated with integrity and as
a burial site."

The appeal board, chaired by Alan Andison, heard evidence
and arguments from the appellants, proponents, government
agencies and expert witnesses at Victoria hearings in March
and May of this year. It was charged with determining if:

• the approval issuance went beyond the province's constitutional
jurisdiction;

• the decision was made using inadequate or deficient information
or with fettered discretion;

• the effluent was harmful to the environment or human health;

• Penelakut Elders were adequately consulted;

• the hatchery effluent unjustifiably infringes the aboriginal
rights asserted by the Elders.

Sablefin Hatcheries Ltd. had also asked for its legal costs
associated with the appeal proceedings, which the EAB denied.

In short, the EAB disagreed with all claims for appeal made
by SSIRRLU, Myrus James on behalf of the Penelakut First Nation
Elders, and the Canadian Sablefish Association. While appeal
group members were disappointed, Martin said their work is
not complete. "We are disappointed in the EAB ruling but the
facts remain we still have a site and buried people to protect
and the battle is not over." Martin added, "It is seriously
concerned because now Sablefin is applying for a permanent
permit to infuse a much larger amount of effluent through
the tombolo into the ocean at a volume of almost five times
the temporary permit.”

But the appeal panel found the environmental effect on the
Walker Hook land or marine area would be “neglible” due to
the effectiveness of the 37-micron drum filter used in the
hatchery, and the sand aquifer the discharge passes through.
“There is very little chance that the microbe concentration
in the discharge at the point where the discharge emerges
from the aquifer will pose any threat to humans, fish or fish
habitat,” states the report.

But Martin said many unanswered questions about the effluent’s
long-term and cumulative impacts remain. She also said the
SSIRRLU is still unhappy because the responsibility for assessments,
testing and ongoing monitoring belong to the proponent. “It
is concerned because MWLAP appears to be delegating environmental
protection to the developers.” SSIRRLU also disagrees with
the EAB finding that the Penelakut First Nation was adequately
consulted.

The EAB accepted that the Penelakut people have an aboriginal
right to gather food in the subject area and “aboriginal rights
in relation to Syuhe’mun (Walker Hook) as a sacred burial
ground.” However, it notes that matters connected to the disturbance
of burial sites fall under Heritage Conservation Act jurisdiction,
administered by the Minister of Sustainable Resource Management,
not MWLAP.

Minkoff maintains the EAB appeal and an attempted federal
court injunction request by the CSA are part of a "much broader
two-year campaign to stop sablefish farming in B.C. Behind
this campaign are a handful of powerful businessmen who own
the exclusive right to harvest $30-million worth of wild sablefish
in B.C. This group, under the auspices of the Canadian Sablefish
Association, has recently enlisted the support of the American
Sablefish fishermen to help stop this small B.C.-owned enterprise
in order to maintain their lucrative monopoly."

Minkoff said the hatchery has completed its first year of
black cod juvenile production and has sold 24,000 fish to
fish farms. "The hatchery operates under very high environmental
standards, which ensures that all water leaving the hatchery,
by the time it mixes with the ocean, is devoid of all fish
waste products and excess nutrients. The hatchery will also
maintain its commitment to preserve known First Nations heritage
sites in its vicinity."